Aldi grocery store chain hiring

MONICA CABRERA, THE MORNING CALL

An Aldi shopping center at Hamilton Boulevard and Mill Creek Road. Aldi is seeking 50 manager trainees, according to information released by its public relations firm.

An Aldi shopping center at Hamilton Boulevard and Mill Creek Road. Aldi is seeking 50 manager trainees, according to information released by its public relations firm. (MONICA CABRERA, THE MORNING CALL)

Anthony SalamoneOf The Morning Call

Discount grocery store chain Aldi hiring 50 manager trainees.

Discount grocery store chain Aldi Inc., which is in the process of buying certain assets of competitor Bottom Dollar Food in a $15 million transaction, will hold job interviews next week.

The German company will hold a "hiring event" at its Whitehall Township store 3-7 p.m. Dec. 9. The store is at 1101 MacArthur Road.

Opportunities for its Lehigh Valley stores include management positions, the company says.

Aldi is seeking 50 manager trainees, according to information released by Aldi's public relations firm, Weber Shandwick. Salaries range from $52,000 to $60,000, with the potential to earn between $75,000 and $90,000 in one year, according to a media advisory.

The hiring event in Whitehall and in other locations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are not tied in to the closing of Bottom Dollar stores, according to Weber Shandwick spokeswoman Ebonne Just. She said Aldi's plans to hold the events had been scheduled "for some time."

When Bottom Dollar closes its doors, more than 1,600 jobs will be lost in Pennsylvania as of mid-January, according to a notice filed with the state Department of Labor & Industry. The company that owns the discount grocery chain Delhaize Group announced this month it plans to close 66 stores in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The Bottom Dollar closings, coming just four years after the brand was introduced locally, include eight in the Lehigh Valley and one each in Quakertown and Reading.

Aldi officials have declined to say what they have planned for the Bottom Dollar stores until at least after the first quarter in 2015, when the transaction is expected to be completed.

Besides Whitehall, Aldi has three other Lehigh Valley stores, with more in adjacent counties.

In addition, Aldi has operated a distribution center in the Stabler Corporate Center in Upper Saucon Township since 1994.